DAKAR, Senegal — Babacar Ndiaye, 12, doesn’t know Babe Ruth from Bryce Harper. The boy’s favorite baseball player is Ryoma Ogawa, who teaches Senegalese children to catch, throw, field and hit.
Baseball is called America’s pastime, but Japan has been cultivating the sport in soccer-crazed Africa for years. Ogawa, 24, is the latest in a long line of Japanese baseball missionaries.
They have helped create leagues in Burkina Faso and Tanzania, and the Japanese government paid for new fields in Ghana and Uganda. African coaches and top players visit Japan for training. A few Africans have earned spots on teams in Japan’s independent leagues.